( closed ) you know sometimes it makes you sick to the bone

[capsulecorps]

Who: Trunks and others
Where: various places
When: first week of the month
Format: [ like this ]
closed
Summary: With Thras dead, Trunks has to deal with the loss of his friend and it's not too good because half-saiyan and all.


closed to his future self, backdated to october 31st.
[ He's gone.

Thras, the Arehtei he met as a child and loved so much that he went out of his way to draw up a good hundred or so posters for The Knights of Thras recruitment to protect his Arehtei... he's gone. Just like that. In a flutter of dragonfly-shaped lights. Gone... and there had been nothing he could do to stop it or save him.

Somehow, time slips away from him and he hasn't even realized that he's come to stop mid-air, having been on his way to Shaarnath as quickly as he could and yet... he hadn't been enough- he hadn't been fast enough.

He never is, is he?

At first, he believes it to be rain touching his cheeks, the skies dark with it being evening and it looked as if it might rain as he zipped his way through the night skies. But it's when his vision begins to blur, when he begins to feel an uncontrollable wave of sadness wash over him that, slowly, he begins to descend from the sky and drops down to his feet first, then his hands and knees. From his shirt, the pendant he had made when he was a child for The Knights of Thras swings forward and he catches sight of it with watery blue eyes, grasping it with a trembling hand that he at first curls tightly within his fist, before he opens his hand and stares to the small pebble he had used with the KoT he had carved in on the front of it. He curls his fist again, tightly so, eyes squeezing shut as he trembles with tears forcing their way out.

He's gone.

His friend, someone else he cared for... he's gone and he couldn't save him. He can never save them.

It's not fair.

It's not fair.

It's not fair.

And just like that, all emotion within breaks loose in a flash of gold as he screams with hands curled into fists and a wave of energy whips off him with a trembling explosion around. The ground beneath him cracks, trembling beneath him as he sinks into it, trees thrown back and just barely holding their roots to the ground as he continues to scream up to the sky in a flurry of emotions.

Anger. Grief. F a i l u r e.

It pulls at him from deep within, rips out a source of power that is so tightly wound around these emotions and refuses to let go, gripping and clawing and trying to remain within... until he rips it out of him as if one would their bleeding heart and everything around him cowers as he explodes with fire, explodes with anger, explodes with bolts of electricity that snap and pop around him so violently. Trees are obliterated, the ground splitting for miles away from him, the sky crying out with him in streaks of lightning high above as he reaches in and rips out more of that power, more of that pain, letting it consume and destroy everything around him.

Congratulations, you've unlocked SSJ2.

And all it took was the death of your Arehtei, of your friend, who you promised you would protect.

But his grief doesn't stop, his anger refuses to calm, and so he slams his curled fists down into the ground, splitting it further as he screams with tears in his eyes... over... and over... and over... he'll bury himself here. He doesn't care. Nothing matters. He's never enough. ]


closed to rokurou.
[ Giru is the first to make his way inside Thras' Temple and he does so on foot this time, small feet tapping against the flooring as he goes to ensure that it's safe before he turns and gives a no danger detected, no life detected to the half-saiyan who lingers near the entrance. His eyes fall shut, a pained expression touching his face. He knows Giru doesn't mean anything malicious with his words it's just... the no life part is... swallowing thickly, he smiles a little to his robot companion and nods once before he makes his way inside, pulling his poncho around him a little tighter.

Coming here is so familiar to the half-saiyan. Days when he would fly his way here as a small boy with his posters in hand and clapping loudly to try and get the dragon's attention... demanding they race and calling them friends, showing the dragon so proudly his drawings and his even being knighted by the Arehtei himself as his first and official knight... all of those memories feel like ghosts within these temple walls now as he slowly makes his way inside, finding the temple to now be eerie and empty of that pride and warmth that Thras would fill it with.

As Giru continues to walk ahead and investigate further, the half-saiyan finds himself stopping a little ways in as he notices the dried blood that's streaked across the flooring. His heart sinks, aching at the sight, and he swallows again as he gives a shaky breath before he proceeds to move in further; he needs to be brave, it's what Thras would want. It's when he comes across the weapons that are left behind - the bloodied sword in particular - that he comes to pause and stares to it all, feeling that ache within him grow as he sees what his dragon friend had been met with and how he could have stopped this if he had been here. Swords, arrows, knives... he could have easily broke all of these, even smacked them away if he had been here and yet...

Trunks sinks down to the floor then, Giru coming to stop and look back at the half-saiyan as he buries his face in his hands and sits there, fingers tugging at lavender coloured strands as he tries to keep it together. But he could have stopped this, he really could have and didn't, he couldn't, and it's not fair. Approaching him, Giru gently places a small hand on the half-saiyan's leg and gives a Trunks hurt? Giru help? but he's met with nothing from the half-saiyan and so he stands there, keeping watch with his small hand still on his leg. ]


for castmates or close cr.
[ In the days to follow the death of Thras, the half-saiyan is clearly grieving the loss of his friend. His room is about the only place he's ever truly found the times when he is around and hasn't disappeared to wherever, ignoring any pings or attempts to get in touch with him over the amulets. If he's not curled up in his bed, back facing whoever comes in, he's sitting on the floor, staring at the posters he'd made as a child for The Knights of Thras or the pendants he still hadn't finished before he disappeared from this world for a short time. The only other place one might find him is sitting on the roof, though this is typically at night, either staring to the night sky or with his face buried in his arms that are crossed against his knees, Giru sitting there with him and eating some nails for a snack. The light that shone so brightly within the half-saiyan who was maybe a little awkward and always willing to chat anyone up is dulled considerably and it's as if he's a shell of the man he was just a few days ago. ]

Comments

[waitingforhope]

[It wasn't hard to figure out what was wrong.]

[Mai might not have shared the connection to Thras that Trunks and several of their friends did, but she had seen what happened. Witnessed some of the immediate aftereffects. The pain and sorrow of loss. One night unfamiliar to her...which was precisely why she knew what she needed to do.]

[Finding him was increasingly easy. What little time he didn't seem to spend in his room, he was up on the same roof she'd previously found him sitting atop. Only, this time, he barely noticed her. Which meant he wasn't about to fly down to her. She would have to go to him. So she did, taking the time to borrow a ladder from the lab, carefully placing it against the side of the building, and climbing up. Her movements were swift and graceful but she still made just enough sounds that even he should be able to hear.]

[When she reached the top, she wasted little time in coming to his side.]

[Then...she took a seat next to him. Close, but still giving him an arm's distance.]

...hey.

[Announcing her presence softly, so as to not startle him.]

[capsulecorps]

[ When Mai drops herself down next to him, the half-saiyan doesn't do much in the way of acknowledging her at first, though he knows that she's there. Especially when a certain small robot companion glances around his back while munching on a nail and, holding one out to Mai, offers snack? Giru share as if Mai would actually be obliged to, you know, eat a nail.

Or maybe he knows that Mai doesn't eat nails and, therefore, won't take it and he's just showing that he can be nice? ]

[waitingforhope]

[Mai had nothing but warm smiles for the little guy offering her scrap metal, though she did shake her head in response.]

No, thank you, Giru. I appreciate it. I'm just...not hungry right now.

[Which, to be fair, was also true.]

[With that established, however, Mai leaned forward ever so slightly. Pulling her knees close to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, chin coming to rest on top. Her eyes closest for the briefest moment as she allowed herself a slow sigh. Barely audible among the light breeze blowing past.]

...whatever you need to say, I'm here to listen. [She did not look at Trunks, but her words were meant for him.] If you need to rant, scream, mumble, blame everyone and everything, plot revenge....or even if you don't want to say anything at all. That's alright too.

[She tried not to compare the Trunks' during the best of times, wanting to acknowledge they were each their own man...but there was just something so parallel about the way they each brooded. It was hard not to approach them in a similar manner.]

[capsulecorps]

[ With the refusal for a "snack", the robot goes back to munching on them himself while the half-saiyan just sits there, face still buried in his arms. He hears Mai's words... how could he not with her there beside him? It's only after a moment that he allows himself to lift his head from his arms and, while not looking over to Mai, he looks up to the sky instead. ]

He didn't deserve that... I should have been there with him.

[waitingforhope]

[She was patient. Expecting silence but still hoping he would say something eventually. So when he finally did, even though he didn't look at her either, she was prepared.]

No. He didn't.

[A glance was spared his way. Observing his body language. It matched his tone.]

You may not have been with him physically in the moment, but...you're with him now. In your thoughts, and in your heart. [She would never once doubt his devotion to the Arathei.] And I may not know Thras as well as you, but I'm certain he let us see what happened for a reason. Painful as it may have been to witness.

We can't change what's already happened...

[A pause, and she very nearly chuckled at the irony of such a statement. All the more, considering who she was saying it to. The boy--or a version of him--who had done just that.]

...but we can control what we do next. In his name.

[capsulecorps]

[ Suggest time travel, Mai. You know you want to. Different version, still Trunks. It's fine. That will be FINE to suggest. ]

I can't protect anyone I care about. It's like no matter how hard I try... I just can't.

[ Are you getting deja-vu between the two Trunkses, Mai? They're a little more similar in certain ways than either might realize, it seems. ]

So what's the point?

[waitingforhope]

[How depressingly deja-vu; for once, there was little comfort in the familiarity of the situation.]

The point is to never give up. No matter how desperate things might seem, there's always a reason to keep fighting.

You still have family here, Trunks. And friends. People who love you. Who want to protect you just as much as you want to protect them. And Thras...he could still come back. The Arathei reincarnate, don't they? Or start a new life cycle or...something of that nature. I remember reading something about that in the library....

trunks :(

[ballseeker]

[ If there's one thing Bulma has learned to deal with over time, it's a saiyan who's going a little too hard on himself. She's recognized it from moment one when she'd seen Trunks again after Thras' murder, and though she'd tried anyway, he's a bit too much like his father to be consoled easily. So instead she's taken on a back seat approach, letting Trunks have his space and his time as is only proper to do. Pressing the issues has never worked with Vegeta and it would certainly never work on Trunks, either. She tended to give Future Trunks a bit more of a ribbing from time to time, but he's had time to build up his own hard headed ways of dealing with things without her intervention as of late.

And, well. Trauma.

Tonight when Bulma arrives back at their little part of Verens she notices a few things out of place, thinking that it's probably Trunks back for however long he chooses to be. She takes a moment to set her things down, quiet, but not overly so, shedding her shoes before she decides to traipse in to her son's room.

There's no hesitation in her as she steps in, quietly shutting the door behind her before she comes closer. Taking a seat on the edge of his bed, close enough to him to feel a little shared warmth between them, Bulma puts her hand on his shoulder and just.. sits.

Words don't necessarily help in these situations. At least not with the men in her family, most times. So instead she'll wait until he speaks first, or just sits with him in silence to let him know she's there. ]

he hurting, mom

[capsulecorps]

[ When Bulma steps inside his room, he doesn't bother to move or even say anything, though she probably figured that he wouldn't. Giru, on the other hand, is sitting there on the half-saiyan's desk, neatly stacking the Knights of Thras posters which had been on the floor when he looks over to the blue-haired woman and stands then with a Trunks sad, Trunks not want to go investigate recalling a talk he had shared with the half-saiyan prior to Bulma coming in concerning what they should do with the death of the dragon. ]

[ballseeker]

I know, Giru. [ Bulma soothes the little robot with not much more than that, hand moving in a gentle pattern up and down the half-saiyans arm and upper back in a soothing motion she's known since he was an infant. It's distressing enough to know people are going around and murdering Arehtai like that, but.. knowing how close Trunks was to that one in particular.. it isn't hard to guess how the young man would take it. He's like his father in many ways, but most of all in how he takes the loss of those he cares about.

It's a quiet rage she knows all too well in the aftermath of things, had most recently seen in Vegeta once Future Trunks had told them that she had died by Goku Black's hand. ]

We'll get it figured out, Trunks. [ Bulma soothes, voice low, barely above a whisper. ] It won't go unpunished.

[capsulecorps]

[ Trunks still doesn't bring himself to say anything in regards to his mother's words, despite his hearing them.

With still standing on the desk near the stacked posters, Giru watches the way in which Bulma comforts the half-saiyan and, after a moment, he hops himself down from the desk and onto the bed and slowly walks his way over across the mattress, coming to stand behind the half-saiyan and beside Bulma.

Looking up to Bulma for a moment, eye shining with something akin to curiosity or perhaps an understanding, he looks back to the half-saiyan and reaches out, placing his small hand on the half-saiyan's upper back along with Bulma's, slowly beginning to rub at his back. He gives a this will help? this help Trunks? as he continues to do it, wanting to help his friend but, Giru being Giru, is at times unable to really understand human emotions and how to make one better when they are sad. ]

[ballseeker]

[ Bulma is quite honestly not paying half a bit of attention to Giru - no, she's focused on her son for the time being, brows a bit wrinkled in concern. It's typical for him to take things so hard, it's just.. that she hopes he doesn't dig his heels in on it. There was nothing he could have helped after all, nothing he could have done to anticipate all of this. They'd just been... living their lives as best they could so far away from home, as anyone would have given the situation.

Despite her focus it's hard not to notice the little metallic hand joining her own, a soft smile filtering across her face with a little nod to answer Giru's question. ]

This and time, Giru. Pushing too much doesn't really help.. with Trunks or his dad. [ Well.. if she had any words to give an inspirational speech she might, but.. Vegeta has the best way with that honestly. But of course he isn't here when one of his simple speeches would be helpful. Classic Vegeta. Even if she did miss the hell out of him right about now. ]

Though I'm sure if dad was here he'd tell all of us to do less of this and more moving... you know him.

[capsulecorps]

[ While Giru continues to gently rub at a spot on the half-saiyan's back, Trunks slowly allows his eyes to open as he lays there, thinking of his father. Despite the way in which his father had been rather tough love about 97% of the time when he was younger, over the years, he had softened some to the point where seeing his son in such pain like this might very well anger him as well, maybe even offering to help his son exact revenge... in his own sort of way; his father's more less talk, more action when it comes to feelings and all. ]

I can't protect anyone, mom. Not back home... not even here.

[ballseeker]

Trunks.. [ It's like an echo, hearing the same words out of a voice that was much smaller not long before. And yes, she does love that he so wants to protect people, that Trunks wants to carry with him something precious like that. But on the same coin, it's often hard for people to separate who is possible to save and the want to save them all - which is what she sees in Trunks.

Bulma leans in, then, resting her cheek on Trunks' strong bicep, a way of holding him even when he's too big to actually hold in her arms, sighing. ]

This much hasn't changed with age, then... But, honey.. you have to remember you're one man.. one person.. and you can't catch or know everything, even with that big brain I gave you.

[fighting4afuture]

[He'd known, the second Thras's roar echoed in his head, that he needed to go. His other self would, after all, and he might need backup.

(Not because he thought he wasn't strong enough, but because it was always best to have someone at your back.)

Tracking Trunks through the air was easy, and he was following as quickly as he could. When the last image shows, he can see the streak of light that is his other self's aura stop cold--and he does too.

The dragon is gone. Trunks wasn't close to Thras, not like his other self was, wasn't aligned to him either, but still...but still, not being able to stop this from happening, stung a little.

He's lost in the dull roar of other people's thoughts when the feeling of his other self's ki rolls over him, like a tidal wave. He hears the stone below him crack, feels a wave of terrifying pressure.

He's breaking through. He'd known his other self was close to it, but had hoped that it wouldn't take something like this.

He doesn't approach until after the initial wave has passed, until his aura has settled into something approaching controlled. He remembers what Gohan had been like, what the absolute rage had felt like to him when he transformed the first time. He'd warned Trunks about it, but he's not sure that a warning can really prepare you for just how it would feel.]

[capsulecorps]

[ The colour red is all he sees in the moment. Red splattered across fond memories he held of himself as a child with the dragon. Of being knighted as a child, working hard on posters for The Knights of Thras recruitment, dropping his pudding cup when he and the dragon first spoke over the amulets. These memories are now stained with the colour red and no amount of beating the ground with his fists seems to make the red disappear.

The environment being influenced by ones emotions doesn't help in this scenario and through the cracks which have split in the ground from his repeated pounding, steam begins to pour out and fire... hot liquid fire... bubbles up, spilling over some of the cracks around the half-saiyan though somehow managing to stay away from him at the same time.

His anger... his rage... it bubbles and spills over around him in a physical manifestation of the pain that he feels as he continues to scream and hit at the ground, stopping then to scream even louder at the sky with hands curled so tight into fists at his sides and another wave of energy being thrown off him, somehow filled with not only anger, but grief as well. ]

[fighting4afuture]

[Trunks still waits--he can be calm about this in a way that his other self can't, of course he's troubled about Thras's death, but it's in a sort of disconnected way.

He's troubled about anyone's death, especially here, where it's not a constant barrage.

The fire doesn't hit him either, not even as he walks closer, or as he speaks when the other stops screaming to take a shaking breath.]

Trunks.

[capsulecorps]

[ He's aware of his other self being here, despite his inability to really focus on anything other than the anger and grief that he feels rippling through his body in a catastrophic sort of way; at least it managed to unlock SSJ2?

It's in that brief lull where fire bubbles and spits around him that hands curled so tightly into fists bury themselves into the crumbling earth before him, and eyes, so bright with green, shine with that pain, that anger, that grief, threatening to spill even more in the form of uncontrollable tears. ]

It's not fair... Thras...

[ Sentences are just... not his strong point at the moment, it would seem. ]

[fighting4afuture]

[SSJ2 just sort of is...like that, in his experience. The first few times, it was nearly overwhelming.

(If everything wasn't so awful right now, he'd find the situation sort of ironic. That they are just as powered by emotion as this world is.)]

No, it isn't.

[That's fine, you're communicating, you're not exploding, everything's fine.]

[rokubro]

[Rokurou doesn't wait long to make his way to Thras's temple. Not only does he want to see the scene for himself, to see and wonder how many the people left there are actual loyal or still hiding their true colors, but he also knows someone else will be there.

And he is worried.

He knows Trunks is close to Thras, knows the guy would be upset. It's probably some saving grace that Trunks is as old as he now or the little boy he had come to know first would have completely lost it. What he isn't sure is whether Trunks would lose it and do something dumb. He banked on his other friends and family to be there for him, but...just in case...

As he reaches the top of the stairs, stairs he had last climbed to give the Arehtei his first completed crystal despite being in a dissonant relationship, he takes a moment to look at the emptiness. Take in the lifelessness, the absence of the powerful dragon. He's not sure if it's because he's aligned to Thras or if this is something else, but he feels...hollow looking at it all.

Slowly he walks through, noting where Thras struggled, where the intruders entered, following the trail of stained blood...and stopping a few feet behind the hunched over figure on the floor. He doesn't say anything for a moment, his eyes gazing over the same items Trunks did. And then he walks in, as if slowly investigating the scene, the memory of Thras's final moments replaying in his mind.]

Thought I'd find you here.

[capsulecorps]

[ When Rokurou speaks, Giru is the first to notice, looking over to the daemon with his hand still on the half-saiyan's leg before he runs his way over and stops a little ways in front of Rokurou with a Trunks fall down. Giru try to help as if meaning to explain the "situation" that the daemon has walked in on.

While Giru is more than willing to explain things, as it were, to the daemon, Trunks... doesn't respond, which is very out of character for him, especially when around the daemon. Instead, he more or less curls up in on himself a little more, burying his face further into his arms as he sits there, hunched over, still, silent... aching. ]

[rokubro]

[Rokurou stops for a moment to look over at Trunks before a small smile forms as he reaches down to pet the robot on top of its, uh. Head?]

It's fine, Giru. Looks like he needs a little more time.

[Trunks's silence is a bit concerning, but Rokurou was the type to let others deal with their issues first and wait before stepping in. And he probably will, but for now he'll let Trunks have his little wallow of grief. In the meantime, he finds where Thras's body was at the moment of his death, the large pool of blood the obvious tell. He stares at it a moment before looking back at the little robot.]

Mind helping me with something?

[capsulecorps]

[ Although he doesn't really have any facial expressions, the fact that he goes silent when the daemon speaks... to him... is probably something akin to a ??????? sort of look before he gives a dee dee dee dee dee! Giru help! Giru help! and even salutes right there on the spot, marching his way over then.

As for Trunks, fingers curl tightly into his arms as he remains there on the floor, face still buried in his arms. Ordinarily, he'd be happy to see the daemon and, to know that he's here... there is a sort of comfort in that. It's just that it's difficult to really recognize or hold onto... at least for the moment. ]

[rokubro]

[It's okay, Trunks, you can cry on him whenever you're ready. For now you can just listen to his voice because Rokurou is speaking aloud for a reason.]

Thanks, Giru. [And sitting down near the spot, a few feet away from Trunks.] Here, take this cup. [And holding out a small, ceramic cup in the shape of a disc to give to the little robot before pulling out a bottle he had brought along with him and another cup for himself.] I had promised Thras some wine before, but... This'll have to do instead.

[He may be glancing back at the other to see if there's any reaction.]

[capsulecorps]

[ Giru does as instructed and takes the cup into his small metallic hands, holding it with that sort of ??????? look on his face again. A little confused, he gives a Thras not here, investigating his death and while he KNOWS that Giru means well and sometimes can't catch on to tone or how emotions are, Trunks can't help but dig his fingers into his arms just a little tighter as he hears that, the bottoms of his feet sliding against the ground some.

Still staring up to the daemon, Giru tries again with Trunks hurt. Giru wants to help. Giru not sure how to and he pops open his stomach, pulling out a bandaid to hold up to the daemon with a can't use this, no injury to see which... perhaps shows that he DOES, to some degree, understand that Trunks is hurt... he just doesn't know how to fix an injury that doesn't require medical attention. ]